I've watched Ratatouille tonight.

And may I say, it's a really nice movie, different from other CGI movies because of the theme it uses. Ofcourse, it's another animal-protagonist movie, but now it took on something original -- food.

I used to not think much about the food I eat. It's there I eat it. But through the years, I've come to appreciate the many things that make it so ... divine. You know what I mean? It has evolved into something so sophisticated that it needed specialists to make them. It needed passion. Like art.

Anyone can cook food -- Gusteau

Now on a different topic: Passion.

I'm immersed in a line of job that more often than not, drives on logic. That is, if you add one to one you get two. And people made a business on that. Yeap, that is IT my friends. We don't use the word computer and associate it with passion or art. Computer often denotes the blank, colorless world of numbers and processing. It is for some people.

To them it's all logic, as predictable as numbers and integers.

But passion. You cannot quantify passion. Almost as absract as all other emotions, it has been the culprit of many driving forces man has been accused of. Passion is fire, it goes forward, and it does so almost singular in cause. It has been known to forget all else and go for one thing and one thing only -- the object it was made for. To complete the thought, passion knows nothing else but to pursue.

I have also know myself as a person of passion. In fact it is my nature. But what happens when you don't go by your nature? What is a naturally passionate person be without passion?

Ah, to this day I'm still asking about that myself.

But there's no need to hurry for the answer. All I need is to find things that ignites it every now and then. I don't have to reason out why I do the things I do. And why things happen the way they do.

Tomorrow is a Monday. Even though I don't have Monday sickness, I know I'll come to work with passion. That despite the fact that I'll again be faced with the blank, colorless world of IT and computers, I know that I could make everything I do a brilliant piece of art.

~ play some sort of inspirational marching song here :p ~

Anyway, I've become curious about France now. To think my name is rooted to that country, I've always been fascinated by their culture. Despite the many racial slurs about the French (them surrendering in a war and all), I think it's a place where I'd like to go to someday.

Especially Paris. Most especially Paris. I'd like to see a city that breathes it. Mmm, wine and authentic French cuisine. My kind of place.

Okay, just a disclaimer, I never had a try of scones.

I just heard it from officemates who've gone to countries where they got them. They describe it like it's a rage or something that's why I became curious. Anyway, I was asking an officemate what they are like. And she said they're really, really dense bread but is salty and sweet.

I was trying to imagine what that tasted like.

I suggested if it's something like a croissant since I think it's that dense and salty. Although croissant is more like -- crusty. That bread is nice to have during breakfast :) especially if served with some nice filling to go with it. Never really tried jams with breads because they're almost always sweet. And well, sweet stuff never went well with my tonsillitis :/ so it's mostly egg with mayonnaise.

I would think the secret for it to be liked is that it's not too tasty. You're letting something else take it over, like the jam you spread on it.

Anyway, more about scones in this wiki. I think I'll go look for one in Megamall today. Maybe French Baker has them.

Kimchi is a Korean ... vegetable mix that smells like rotten plants if stored with air for too long o.O

I dunno, that's what they smell like really. Nevertheless, I eat them with gusto especially if the vegetables are really fresh and crunchy. It's not delicious to the taste buds per se, because personally, it's an acquired taste.

I'm not really sure when I began eating that stuff in places where they sell them (almost always costa Php 25 for some reason). Perhaps it began as a health-related urge. I think I was thinking it has fiber and I wanted to detoxify my digestive system.

Or so I heard in TV.

The best places where I ate them are in genuine Korean restos. Yoshinoya in Megamall used to serve nice kimchi but sadly, quality degraded. Funny because Yoshinoya is Japanese o.O they also serve them in Korean BBQ, present in Megamall food court (halata bang megamol boy ako?). There's a branch of it in other places as well. Beware, this is where they serve kimchi that smells like armpits.

Anyway, it's a healthy thing to eat. More about kimchi in this wiki.

There's this interesting mail by one of our account managers.

It's about our client's mood for the week. It's really nifty because you can get an impression of what you've been doing as a team and the impact it has been having as a whole.

Incidentally, our baby is in a festive mood :)

Look at our baby.

Makes me think you know. In a previous company, I've been assigned to three really big projects. None of which I saw come into a good end. Or at least one that has become satisfactory in my IT career.

The first, which is Safeway, is a supermarket conglomerate in the US. You won't be seeing any commercials of that here ofcourse. But if you go there, you can just imagine the extent of things they have. And we were assigned to create an employee time and attendance system for them. Imagine a system used by millions -.-

It pretty much is a plop. We were relatively new with Java back then, and we were making bad design mistakes here and there. For the most part, we really don't know what to do. Incidentally, it was then that I experienced some of the worst episodes of my IT life.

It only takes one person to lose faith in yourself.

Bah, I won't go emo-ing about that. That was ages ago, and I sure have become a better person. Next time I encounter that asshole and his attitude he won't be seeing the same reaction (or lack thereof) from me. Funny how a mild-mannered, harmless employee who wouldn't harm a fly turn into a hellspawn. Not that I wasn't thankful for the change.

Second one was a local project from Aboitiz. Now that was a good project with even better expectations. I get to learn new technologies then and practice what I did best in IT -- the front end web layer. The one part I seem to realize that les than 10% of IT people would care about doing. Looks easy to do but can be daunting to say the least.

Unlike pure Java coding, results aren't always manageable by debugging but by intuition or imagination. Which I am sharply good at.

I learned a lot from there. Made some good friends and my then better half. But as always, nothing lasts forever. The project went on a downward, sickening spiral, my officemate friends resigned and went to different companies, and I've created my second ex -.-

I remained and lingered for a while before I decided to move on.

Now, I'm quite happy where I am. Still, there are things I need to do. There's gotta be more to life than just getting by day by day. It was this year I've decided to migrate out of here. A place where I haven't been to but have always looked upon at a distance as my final destination.

I've submitted my skills assessment, but doubt has gnawed my brain that I haven't passed enough documents to fit into the criteria they have put upon. Nonetheless, I'll still pursue it again.

I wanna get out of here -.-

Yeah, another odd Google blog hit for me. This one is actually quite regular.

Lakbay Diwa

You have to go to page two of the Google results to see my blog. It points to a blog entry where I sound existentialist and emo at the same time.

Yeah, I've heard about this MMORPG years ago, but unfortunately, it never was available here in the Phils when it came out. It's made by NCSoft, the same one that brought Guild Wars.

However, it's still in going through closed Beta this August so, no playing for me yet. Another hindrance would be the bad connectivity on the cafes I'm playing my games in. And I don't want to install it to my laptop. I do need to put a game in it though because I've been neglecting it for quite a while.

In other news, my character in RF Online, RedBloodCell (yeah, I wasn't really imaginative when I created her), is level 42. Eight levels away from the level cap. But even reaching 45 could be quite a chore -.- Plus, I don't belong to any guild so it's all working solo for me. Which is not too bad because I get to reach my PT caps nicely.

~~~

Oh yeah, last night I watched an episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It's one of the very few cartoons that can actually make me laugh. Which is like, rare for American (lame-o) cartoons to do.

Incidentally, the proliferation of worthless anime can be quite irritating. The only thing good in Animax right now would be Gun Sword (looks like done by Studio Bones). To balance that one (almost) good anime, it seems Animax have rights to endlessly airplay GITS which is getting tiresome. I mean yeah, it was a high quality anime first, or even second time around but, if you do that for the nth number of times it gets really lame.

They're also showing reruns of Flame of Recca but ya know, the voice dub for Recca sounds like a lame teener who gets his weiner constantly being pulled out. Hear it if you wanna know what I mean.

~~~

Oh yeah, me and a few officemates are planning on a trip to Cebu. I'm not sure what to look for there second time around, but I'm going to do it differently this time. Well at least I have my camera now, so I'll be happy just picturing stuff.

Not sure if I'm going for that waterfall adventure again hehehehe. Hay -.-

~~~

I'm out of mp3s to listen to. The ones I've downloaded are what I call, "cheap cafe mp3s" because it seems internet cafes seem to be playing them nonstop.

Ofcourse, I won't be downloading that damnable song by Akon that goes something like "nobody wants to see us together".

What the freaking hell. Even if I become deaf, that damnable song will be forever burnt to my brain because of the sickening non stop airplay in a cafe I usually hang out in.

Next time I hear it, I'll massacre everyone in sight.

I've rediscovered the joys of listening to the radio ever since I got a new cellphone (I use it more for music than for ... communicating).

Sometimes you just want somebody else to take control of the music you hear. Because, well, it's sort of tiring to listening to the things you want to hear, or exploring new sounds on your own.

Sometimes life is like a radio, ya know?

You don't know what you're gonna get.

And sometimes, sometimes if you wish hard enough ... they play the song you like to hear. Or you get to hear a song you've long forgotten and it all just comes back to you.

~~~

I really have no talent for music, honestly. No matter how many times I pick up that guitar, I never really will become good at it unless my life depends on it.

I play it because .... as Aristotle was quoted as saying:

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire."

There never was a need for talent to want to play one. So go on. Play that guitar. You might be a terrible player, but at least a happy one at that.

And that ladies and gents, makes it all worth while.

I'm bored.

~~~

I sort of miss the Symbian Windows in Nokia and the slim fonts. But let's see if this w810i would live to be er ... old.

~~~

I've been worrying my folks. Haven't kept in touch in like weeks ever since I lost my cellphone. Yeah, I've reached new heights of hermitness. I wonder if I am still recognizable? Mmmmmm ...

I dunno. I mean, it bores me to death going back to my home town. Whenever I ask for news, there's nothing new. Say, if you left for half a year, everything would still be same.

That troubles me you know. A place without change. Stagnation is dangerous to my system. Well, at least give me something to do. Sleeping is boring.

~~~

People going for big changes in their life.

Yeah, I've been looking for people like that. It inspires me to do something for myself.

~~~

Have to constantly remind myself to not rush things. I have an aura of chaos constantly about. Not a very nice thing to have around OC people.

Brash and reckless. Hehe. Messy but happy. Yeah.

Then again. Wonder what'll happen if someday I immersed myself into a place of law and order. Of really tight rules. Hmrf.

~~~

Just read something interesting.

Feh. Heck it makes me feel good about what I chose to do.

It's not my job to save the world. Your happiness is your responsibility. Not mine. Ever.

Maaga ako ngayon.

Ewan ko ba. Inaantok tuloy ako sa opis. Sigurado ubos ang first hour ko dito sa pag-update ng workspace ko. Waa.

Kung pwede bang matulog ng dilat ang mata ginawa ko na. Kaso creepy yun. Pagkamalan pa akong isda.

What to do, what to do ...

Hehe. Right. It noted that I mentioned cocaine once. But what if I post a picture like this.


This is my roommate Jo ... OH MY GOD WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR CONDO??!!

~~~

In other news, I have nothing much to say today. Except that I'm pushing my ass off to get myself a new cellphone.

Oh yeah, forgot to tell that, I lost my cellphone. And it's been weeks since I've had any contacts :D (yay, hermit)

My new number is 0921 664 6234. That's the number, but I don't have the phone yet, so don't make your presence known til I announce :D teehee

I plan on getting a really nice one that has full music features (because I'm a lazy cellphone user). I'm leaning on Sony Ericsson models w880i (2006), or w850i. On the other hand, Sony Ericsson don't have models that have touch pad keys like Motorola which I like in that brand.

The other thing I don't like about SE is because of the cards. It uses memory sticks instead of the usual SD cards which can be used in most other stuff. So if ever I'm gonna buy one from them, it has to have at least Bluetooth. Most phones these days have them anyway so no fussing on that.

I usually just ignore it, but sometimes this humble blog of mine has some interesting Google blog hits. I think I'll post them here whenever I come across one.

Here's a couple.

This city is making us crazy
Tonight is very clear

I used to have a lot of blog hits last year from that song by Lifehouse (You and Me). There's also weird blog hits from non-English sites. Pretty neat. And weird at the same time.

Whenever I see the sky filled with clouds and the air feels cool, I'll just hear myself, "What a beautiful day."

Clouds. Hmm.

Funny how lately watching them pass by in the sky just suddenly gives a relaxing effect. I mean, I dunno. When I was a kid I just stare at them from the upper floor window (and how large our window was) and realize, "Man, I am so BORED." I get restless.

Growing up in a province can be quite an experience. Never owned much of the city kid stuff like fancy robot toys or the latest gaming console. All I had were paper planes, tons of imagination, and a whole backyard of coffee trees waiting for adventure.

I was like Huckleberry Finn.

I'd go on lone adventures into the plantations looking for fighting spiders and exotic tree orchids. And the ultimate safari discovery ... a rare species of sunbird the locals call Ibong Diablo. I never really got a good look at it. But when I hear its calls, it felt like an urgent hunt for treasure.

I know which sort of trees have weak branches for climbing, and I know where the May cicadas lay their eggs. I once thought of trying to raise cicada larvae but reading that they take seventeen years to mature, the prospect got a little slim.

Perhaps one of the most childish, enjoyable things to do in a rustic setting like that was looking for food -- in the forest. My cousins and I would know which plants bear edible berries, and which root plant can have tubers we can roast for eating.

Sadly, those days are gone.

I've become something way, way different now. Stuck in a fluorescent-lighted office, typing away Java codes and stuff. Perhaps in one little dream I might find myself running through the leaf-covered grounds of the coffee plantations running ... exploring ... the scent of the forest making me high. Oh wait that was marijuana.

I am dumb.

It's only now that I have sampled some of her old songs that I truly appreciated her music. She makes songs that uncanningly reflect how I think in words. Only ofcourse, she's more poetic and adept at the thing she does. Both things I can only dream of achieving in this lifetime lest I focus on saying them (at which case, I'll lose my job and starve).

Her voice isn't exactly spectacular or unique. But you know it's her the way she utters the words and how the words come into your brain. Now that's talent man. Verrry few people can do that to me.

Oh yeah, will post pictures from our little charity work last weekend. Wait for it yo.

- Q.Montejo

Let's watch the world end
Look at it as it folds into its own oblivion
Let's hold hands when it sinks into entropy
And hear heaven's heralds sing songs of revelation

Don't fear, my dear
You have me with you and that's more than a lot
That even if skies bleed the sun and clouds die
You are not alone, my dear, you have me with you

Stand steady for it's on
Mountains will shake and howl and wail
As the ground will break seemingly frail
Look at me darling, my resolve won't fail

Let's watch the world end
As the stars swirl and fall into the abyss of night
But let it find us with our trembling hands clasped tight
Let its eyes follow us when we walk gently into the light ...

OC. Obsessive Compulsive.

I may claim that I am not the kind. Maybe even the reverse. If it works, then it's good enough for me. Elegance can come in later.

Ofcourse, that's not to say I'm complacent about everything. I do value real quality. Heck, I'd pay for it, price doesn't matter. That is, if only I'm assured of the quality. Life is grand. Why treat it any less?

So yeah, I hate those cheapo products being spurted out by the hundreds. That means I hate knock offs. That's not saying I'd ONLY buy from real branded stuff. Like I said, if it works, elegance comes in second.

About stuff. Well, I think I can consider myself neat in a chaotic way (okay, now that's some confusion right there). I love a really clean kitchen, all utensils lined up in the closets, and smelling lemony clean. Buuuut I might leave the bed all scrumpled up. I mean hey, it was messy when I found it, I'll leave it like that :D

I love spending time doing laundry if I can help it. Not that I am proud looking like a domesticated ass. It's just that after doing it, it feels like an accomplishment.

~~~

Ferocity.

I like that word but I couldn't quite exactly encounter the ideal situation to say it.

Except the zoo, mayhaps o_O

That reminds me, haven't been in one in years. I'm a bit of a zoologist, but I think all my encyclopedic knowledge have trickled away through the years. Now all I could do is awe at what color that animal has.

Oh yeah, Bohol this September!
And Palawan part Deux this November!

I'm going through the good places baby!

Hoo-ha!